Breeding Blues

[humpy_the_humphead_wrasse]

well it didnt quit turn out how i was hoping as i have both colony of 6 hemichromis and 6 yellow labs. i figured either of these 2 wouldve been the first bearers what with have some nice smooth flate slate in the tank. Alas i was wrong. my first parents were an odd couple. A melanochromis and a peacock mother. Result, babies with melanochromis's head and body shape and stripes down all the way down the body like the peacock mother. and blue is poping up over the body.

The mother is currently got a mouthfull again atm after catching the 5 from the first batch. After a year of trying to breed them for money i come up duex with a cross breed argh. my local fish store said theres a chance they'll take them as they have in the past. ive read alot of winging and bitching bout cross breeds in the past but i dont see any problem with them. theyr alot more beautiful than the normal cichlids and people can decide if they want a cross or not, after all its pretty easy to id the parents of mine LOL. I'll put up some photo's for yous soon for those who wish to read on. people say cull them but they're cute and have their own tank for now till i decide what to do with them. Way i see it is parents cant be chosen and same in a cichlid community tank for about 40.

there are about 8 peacocks in my tank 4 males and 4 females, i guess mine just decided to do it with the spunky melanochromis.

 

[Colin_T]

there are about 8 peacocks in my tank 4 males and 4 females, i guess mine just decided to do it with the spunky melanochromis.

LOL to spunky melanochromis

If you want to breed fish for money the you have to have separate species tanks. This prevents aggression from other species and possible hybridisation. There is nothing worse than growing up a batch of fish only to find out they are cross breeds and not worth anything. A lot of time and money wasted.

 

[humpy_the_humphead_wrasse]

even if they arent worth anything and i have to keep them. they are damn sexy. thats all i can say!

 

[humpy_the_humphead_wrasse]

so ive got my second batch i think its been bout 9 to 10 days now since i noticed. i did a quick milking tonight or atleast tried. turns out squeezing the cheeks does s*** all although the mothers only bout 7 or so months old peacock. i did manage to get 2 fry out but theyve still got egg sacks. is it still to early?

also ive got them in a small round plastic margerine container. shoud i put them in with my cichlids in the rearing tank, theyre probably bout a month old i would predict. or should i keep them in the container? i need to go and buy a holding net tmrw i think to put in my rearing tank for the lil bubs.

can anyone tell me what to do about feeding them? or will they just live off their egg sacks until their big enough then go to crushed flakes?

sry first time! last last 5 which were my first batch i actually found in the tank after they were atleast a few weeks old.

 

[Colin_T]

It is preferable not to milk female cichlids. If you are careless you can damage the fish and kill the young. Normally you only milk a female if she is renowned for eating the eggs or newborn fry. Then if you have to milk her, gently lift her out of the water and hold her with her head facing downwards. Then gently run a wet finger under her throat. She should cough and gasp and spit their eggs out. You might have to stroke her throat several times. But only milk if you have too.
Try to keep the mothers (females that have just spat out the babies) separate from the males for a month or so. This will give them time to recover and build up their strength before they breed again. If they have too many mouthfuls without enough time in between, they can stress out and die from malnutrition.
If possible put the females with mouthfuls into a spare tank and let them look after the eggs and fry. When she has released the fry and is no longer caring for them, you can move her of the fry into another tank.

Don't put new fry in with month old fry because the bigger older ones will eat the new ones.

Keep the egg/ babies warm. Most people float the container in the tank.

Babies that have been milked will sit on the bottom of the container until they are free swimming. Once they are swimming around they can be fed. But don't feed them until they have absorbed their yolk sac and are swimming about.
Newly hatched brineshrimp is the best food to give the babies. Microworms are also good and flake can be used if you have nothing else. But it isn't very good for rearing fish.

 

[humpy_the_humphead_wrasse]

tis all good well yeah the 2 i got were eaten but i plan to get a small net cube today for next time. I do plan to isolate the female next time but as ive only just setup the rearing tank i didnt want to risk an anything spiking and killing my only laying female so fare out of 40 cichlids in my community tank. well they get 4 to 5 feedings of new life spectrum a day so nutrition isnt to much of a worry as even she has retained a nice amount of body fat. i will however detain her in the rearing tank for a week next time after she spits or even maybe in anouther breeding net cube next time.

 

[Colin_T]

Breeding nets aren't any good for the eggs/ babies either. The undeveloped fry will sit on the bottom of the net and the older babies will eat them through the netting.
A 2litre plastic ice-cream bucket works well. You can cut a couple of holes in the side and glue some netting over that. Then glue some polystyrene foam to the tops sides of the container so it floats. Put the container with eggs/ developing young into the tank and the water can slowly pass through the net, but the eggs won't get eaten.